Employers to tackle employee healthcare affordability amid rising costs

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[{"type":"text","content":"Nearly all employers expect to offer virtual care to meet demand for medical and behavioral health services, WTW survey finds\nARLINGTON, Va., April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The vast majority of U.S. employers (94%) say managing healthcare benefit costs will be their top priority over the next two years, followed by enhancing mental health benefits (87%), according to a new survey by WTW (Willis Towers Watson, NASDAQ: WTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. And with health cost increases showing signs of accelerating, employers are boosting efforts to make benefits more affordable and are elevating employee awareness of what benefits are offered and how best to access them. The pandemic and the shift to remote work have contributed to a worsening of mental health among employees and their families. In response, two-thirds of employers surveyed (66%) said ensuring that their health and wellbeing programs support remote workers will be a key priority of their healthcare strategy over the next two years; 62% plan to enhance programs and wellbeing activities to focus on health issues of family members. When asked what their greatest challenges will be to effectively deliver on their healthcare strategy over the next two years, 73% cited increasing healthcare prices due to rising inflation and provider consolidation. More than half (54%) identified lack of employee awareness about where to find programs to support their needs as a key challenge. “Many employers find themselves in the middle of a perfect storm,” said Lindsay Hunter, senior director, Health and Benefits, WTW. “Inflation and rising healthcare costs, ongoing emotional and physical wellbeing needs, and attraction and retention challenges caused by a tight labor market are driving employers to carefully evaluate their benefit programs and strategies. In particular, they are looking for ways to make healthcare more affordable for themselves and their employees.” Indeed, nearly two-thirds of employers (64%) will take steps to address employee healthcare affordability over the next two years. These approaches include improving quality and outcomes to lower overall cost (55%) as well as adding or enhancing low- or no-cost coverage for certain benefits (41%). Additionally, over the next two years nearly one-third (32%) of employers expect to make cha...

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